Oddly enough, pawn shops are considered “financial institutions” under the Bank Secrecy Act/Patriot Act. They actually might be even more regulated than traditional banks when it comes to KYC. I’ve never done any work for pawnshops but I’m pretty sure they need to get all the usual ID that a bank would _plus_ a physical description of the customer (height, weight, hair color, race, tattoos, etc.).

Also, the Patriot Act is a major invasion of privacy. SCOTUS says it’s Constitutional but I think there would be riots in the streets if people really understood the kind of surveillance the average law-abiding citizen is subject to under the law.